Walker, Bulls don't get their just rewards

He was a member of the greatest NBA team no one ever talks about. So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that Chet Walker (right) is arguably the greatest player not in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

"The first couple of years I was nominated, I was kind of disappointed," said Walker, waiting out his sixth nomination for the Hall. "Now, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. It is an honor to be nominated."

Walker is a retired businessman now, though he still dabbles in independent filmmaking after his Emmy winner with the story of Isiah Thomas' mother, Mary. I caught up with him this weekend signing autographs at the Sun-Times sports collectors' show in Rosemont.

At 66, he's still in good shape and looks like he still could score at the baseline like he once did when he was a key scorer for the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers team that won 68 games and is regarded among the NBA's best. He was a seven-time All-Star, including four times with the Bulls.

The greatest player in Bradley history enjoyed the school's nice NCAA run and says there were "some feelers" a few years back about having his jersey number retired by the Bulls with teammates Bob Love and Jerry Sloan.

"I did not leave under the best of circumstances," Walker says with an apologetic smile. "I don't know if that's still a factor, or what. A lot of people have long memories."

Actually, people don't. At least not about that 1971-75 Bulls team, which never has received the credit it deserves because it didn't win a championship. The team broke up after perhaps the most heartbreaking loss in Chicago NBA history--a Game 7 loss in the 1975 conference finals to eventual champion Golden State.

Walker, still averaging more than 19 per game, retired in the wake of continued disputes with coach Dick Motta, who also was busy trying to run off Love and Norm Van Lier.

"I don't like to criticize people," says Walker, known back when he played as private and professional. "But I kind of had a problem with the coach. He was a very sensitive guy and he wasn't quite comfortable with his position."

It's a gentle way of saying how Motta went a long way toward ending the true beginning of pro basketball in Chicago.

"We just kind of ran our course," says Walker. "They made the trade, Cliff Ray for Nate (Thurmond), and Cliff came back and beat us. It was strange because Cliff and (Tom) Boerwinkle blended so well and Nate was used to another system. But at least we built the foundation for basketball in Chicago before Michael Jordan and them took over."

In honor of Walker and those Bulls, here's a look at the best teams, all title-less, that no one talks about:

1971-75 Bulls: One of the great lost civilizations of basketball, they fell to some of the greatest teams ever, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's (then Lew Alcindor) 66-win Bucks with Oscar Robertson in 1970- 71, Wilt Chamberlain's Lakers that won 33 straight in 1971- 72 and the 1972-73 Knicks. Phil Jackson, a reserve on that team, wrote in his book, Maverick, that the Knicks hated most playing the tough Bulls.

1964-67 Cincinnati Royals: Oscar Robertson finally got a title when joining Abdul-Jabbar in Milwaukee, but his run with Jerry Lucas was the most frustrating. They were the league's most unique inside/outside combo with Robertson the best perimeter post player and Lucas the best shooting big man. They routinely combined to average more than 50 points per game, only to be eliminated by Chamberlain's 76ers or Bill Russell's Celtics.

1989-2001 Utah Jazz: With John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Jazz won at least 60 three times, but there were too many early playoff ousters and two Finals defeats to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

1994-96 Orlando Magic: The What Could Have Been team of the 1990s.They were too young and it came too fast. Shaquille O'Neal and a healthy Penny Hardaway were a breathtaking combo with role players like Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott and should have dominated for years.

1988-94 Portland Trail Blazers: They had a threeyear run in the middle of this period in which they averaged 60 wins.They made two Finals, in 1990 and 1992, but came up just short against the Pistons and Bulls.